“We fought long and hard for this on behalf of our members and we’re excited that pilots can now start the BasicMed process,” said AOPA President Mark Baker. “You’re now cleared to take the necessary steps to get in the air as of May 1.”

Pilots may now make their doctor appointment, have the FAA checklist filled out by the physician, and complete the free AOPA online medical course.

Pilots must retain the completed exam checklist with their logbook, along with the certificate of completion from the online medical course.

Once these requirements are met, pilots just have to wait until May 1 to exercise the privileges of BasicMed.

AOPA officials anticipate that BasicMed will affect hundreds of thousands of pilots and bring back many who have stopped flying for fear of losing their medical certificate or because of the cost and stress associated with seeking a special issuance medical each year.

To help those who have been away from flying, AOPA has created a Rusty Pilots program to make it easier to get back into the cockpit.

“If you’ve been away from flying for a while, don’t worry,” Baker said. “AOPA’s Rusty Pilots seminars will help you knock off the rust and boost your confidence so that you will be ready to act as pilot in command again.”

AOPA is partnering with flight schools to offer Rusty Pilots seminars in hundreds of locations across the United States. By attending the three-hour seminar, you will receive an instructor’s endorsement that meets the minimum requirement for the ground portion of a flight review, and you will get the opportunity to meet local flight instructors so that you can schedule a lesson to complete the ground and flight portion of a review. Nearly 3,600 pilots have returned to active flying status through Rusty Pilots.

“We have worked tirelessly with Congress and the FAA to achieve medical reform,” Baker said. “Check out our suite of online Fit to Fly resources to let us help you settle into the left seat.”

Comments

I agree with most of the comments regarding Basic Med (Basic Medical Evaluation & Denial). Unfortunately, this is all about money, and right now there is no big money to be made in GA. Also, not enough “mad” GA pilots out there whose voices really need to be heard in Washington and across this beautiful country. Until there is a real leader that is not afraid of stepping on some toes, GA will continue to be second rate at best. Too many pilots unable to continue with their love and too many planes sitting around out of annual and not being flown. Not too many years from now there will be a boneyard of GA planes that nobody wants, even parts dealers. Most of us getting older and we will not be around to witness any future revitalization, if there is one. It’s no wonder we can’t get the youth interested in flying. They hate the hassles of flying on the airlines and disinterested in the work it takes to get a pilot’s certificate. Even the airline employees hate flying on the airlines! Complete disrespect for authority as to the passengers and poor to no good customer service as to the company. Only airline crews that love their job are those that carry freight! Only a miracle could change this course. Let’s pray for one, right now!

“AOPA officials anticipate that BasicMed will affect hundreds of thousands of pilots and bring back many who have stopped flying for fear of losing their medical certificate or because of the cost and stress associated with seeking a special issuance medical each year.”

Is this some kind of a joke? Hundreds of thousands of pilots?? Hahahahahahaha!!!
Bring back “many” who have stopped flying because of not being able to pass their psychical and avoid SI’s?? News flash: YOU STILL HAVE TO SEE AN AME AT LEAST ONE MORE TIME AND YOU STILL NEED TO DEAL WITH THE SAME EXACT SI’S THAT ARE ALREADY IN PLACE, AGAIN AT LEAST ONCE…..If you couldn’t pass before, what makes you think, for one second, you will pass now???

This is a pathetic, useless piece of garbage that does nothing at all to further GA in America, and it will not in any way shape or form help out anyone who actually were hoping for this to be WHAT WAS ORIGINALLY PROMISED: A drivers licence medical for real GA aircraft.

You gave up on it, AOPA, EAA, et all, and you deserve nothing but scalding replies like this one from every single person you screwed over. Thanks for nothing at all!

Part 7 of 8 did/would not post despite continued attempts, showing up as a ‘duplicate’

Let’s try again … (pt 7 of 8)

Well, so that’s the problem. And now at least knowing what the problem is just maybe we can start looking for solutions. But it’s not to just root for ‘Business Aviation’ …and bankroll their lobbying fights in rotten DC. And yes …as has just become overwhelmingly apparent with our last election fiasco, WDCorruption is a very real truth. Unfortunately, it is exactly that kind of lobbying of (our) ‘Special Interest’ groups that is/has been the problem.

And the little guy (privately) flying around in piston airplanes is all but extinct already. That’s why we hear the message all the time that what is good for ‘Business Aviation’ is good for the little guy. This has been a mantra at ‘Flying’ (magazine) publications for quite some time …even as the little guy aviator continues to wither away …while Bizav continues to grow and prosper.

In the late 70’s, I struggled to put myself through school (let’s not even get started on the costs of a college degree these days!) and pay for my flight training (mostly through loans) to pursue a dream of being a Professional Pilot. 40 years later, after having been fortunate to have flown everything from parachutes to 747’s, this subject has been a particular heartbreak for me …as I seriously doubt I could succeed in that endeavor today …and wonder how any of today’s young(er) folks, or even us ‘older guys’ (of even ‘above-average’ means) ever could either.

I’m afraid these greedy times we’re a livin’ and the EXPONENTIALLY accelerating rate of expense, will only serve to hasten the time the final nails are driven. We’re rapidly destroying ‘General/Recreational Aviation’ in this country …making it solely a ‘Rich Mans Sport’.

And as to the reasons for its demise? Surely, if you’re (intellectually) honest with yourselves, (and you know who you are) you understand the point of this (lowly 2-cents-worth) comment. If not, then …no offense …uplifting, hopeful enthusiasm notwithstanding, but with none of the cold, clear logical pragmatism so necessary for one to be a successful ‘PIC’ …you’re ‘rowing down that famous long river in Egypt’ …or are of that myopic ‘mindset’ of those who have caused and/or are actively involved in the death of General Aviation …are in fact one of many active and willing participants in it …and, unfortunately, part of the problem …certainly NOT the solution.

The final, irrefutable evidence is not that our illustrious ‘leaders’ of AOPA & EAA are congratulating themselves on the fact that they essentially failed at securing what was actually requested/proposed by (their?) membership, really all that was ‘needed’: an extension of LSA rules to cover 4-6 seat light aircraft, VFR primarily for ‘recreational’ purposes (in fairness, not really all their fault as anyone can, no matter their background, ‘status’ or financial where-with-all can fail in that ‘Fiasco’ we call the US Government)

My ‘apologies’ to those who’ve read (and endured) this rather long ‘rant’ elsewhere. (and the 8-part format, as this venue only seems to allow 500 word posts) But after having read so many response-posts in various other publications on this ‘subject’ …while some are seeing clearly, it seems that many (the majority?) still don’t (or just don’t want to) …’Get-it’.
——————
“BasicMed is the best thing to happen to general aviation in decades,” said AOPA President and CEO Mark Baker

Robert Goyer, formally of ‘Flying’ magazine and now with ‘Plane and Pilot’ observed (in a most politically correct fashion) of this wonderful development: “The new rules are a lot more complicated than any of us would have wished for”. That is the understatement of the century concerning this ‘sham’ legislation which is, as any reasonably intelligent person could see, essentially little more than the ‘passing-of-the-buck’ which in reality will do very little for the many of us who’ve waited so anxiously for it to come to fruition. Nor I fear will it do the slightest thing to reverse the final nails being driven, concerning the death of ‘General Aviation’ in this country

Unless I read AOPA’s Q&A incorrectly, we are essentially ‘substituting’ an FAA designated Medical Examiner with a ‘civilian’ Physician. In our hyper-litigious society (especially in the area of ‘Medical Malpractice’) after the 1st. lawsuit is filed …it’ll all be over. As always, it really won’t matter on the technicalities of the law in this instance (as is the case for most ‘lawsuits’) as in our country, it’s always, unfortunately, been about one thing …money. Even with the most frivolous of lawsuits, and/or more often even the ‘threat’ of them, the costs are usually outrageous …and too many Physicians have already had their fill.

I sincerely hope …wish, to be proved wrong. …probably should know better.

But there’s still just one more ‘minor’ reality, that so many folks, (commenting here and elsewhere) it appears, just don’t (or won’t?) seem to ‘get’.

And I say this as a (hopeless) Aviation romantic, and (retired) Professional Pilot. Humbled by a wide range of experience from Skydiving to Airline flying …and a 25+ year member of both AOPA & EAA:

Let’s have a look at the two ‘Grass-Roots’ ‘Non-Profit’ organizations, that are supposed to be representing the (now just about extinct) ‘Average Joe’ ‘GENERAL Aviation’ pilot that had the most hands in initiating, pushing and following through on this so-called “most significant legislative victory for general aviation in decades.” (AOPA’s Mark Baker)

AOPA and EAA …currently headed by (appointed, NOT member voted) ex-Corporate CEO’s still drawing (absurd) CEO level wages from NON-PROFIT ‘Associations’ Average-Joe members, flown around in mega-expensive, Turbine (Corporate) aircraft doing OUR? ‘Business’ in expensive, lush resorts, provided and paid for by said membership, who are shamelessly deluged by the Association and its ‘affiliates’ with weekly solicitations for ‘goods & services’, and have in fact, ironically, become one of the many active and willing participants in the demise of ‘General Aviation’ …unfortunately, part of the problem, certainly NOT the solution.

We’re told this excess is justified, in fact required, so that we can have people “experienced” with the ways of Washington, (Corporate) lobbying and (Big) Business in order to have (OUR?) voices heard and issues addressed. (sound familiar?) When the perverted reality is that it’s just this type of ‘Mind-Set’ this (USA?) ‘Corporate Mentality” (pursuit of ‘profit’ solely for its own sake) that’s been the primary contributor to the Graveyard Spiral ‘General Aviation’ has been unable to recover from.

EAA’s Mr. Peltons last gig was with Cessna Aircraft Company, who like Piper, and others in the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s not only supported, but actually ‘CREATED’ a market for ‘General Aviation’ by providing aircraft, not only for the affluent, but airplanes that the ‘Average-Joe’, albeit with a little sacrifice, could actually afford, now gives us the $400,000+ venerable C172. A basic, simple, single-engine, 4-place, fixed gear/prop, low-HP ‘Light Airplane’. One whose basic airframe’s been around for over half a century and whose R&D, tooling and most other initial development costs have long since been paid for many times over, decades ago. Essentially a (very) old airframe design with a few tweaks, upgraded to some modern avionics (which also SHOULD cost substantially less than their steam-gauge, analog counterparts)

If one follows (Aviation related) news, it’s been reported that the elite Business (Aviation) club is also experiencing a bit of drop in membership (revenues) these days. By forgetting its core roots and the re-inventing of itself into a ‘profit-solely-for-its-own-sake’ ‘business’ model, perhaps the ‘General-Aviation’ INDUSTRY is now finally beginning to feel the effects of its shortsightedness, in painting itself into the very limited little corner it’s only now beginning to realize it’s in?!?

It ‘s appalling the manner in which our ‘Industry’, in its present incarnation, shamefully perpetuates the illusion it hasn’t (deliberately) mutated into something totally unrecognizable from how it was born and existed for the better part of the last century. Now destined, by design and careful maintenance, to cater solely to an extremely small, ‘elite’, and most affluent segment of our society. A perfectly constructed, self-perpetuating, insulated ‘bubble’, what was once a great, vibrant, perpetually growth potentiated and mostly unique to the USA phenomena …’General Aviation’.

Most of Europe and all of present day Asia have no (and really never had any) such thing as ‘General Aviation’ …solely because of the PROHIBITABLY EXPENSIVE costs. Their citizens have long been coming here to pursue that dream we’ve all taken for granted! (but even that may change …read: practically grind to a halt, now that the new draconian EASA Flight Crew licensing regs have kicked in) Active participation in our wonderful world of ‘Flight’ here in the USA has always been on the (relatively) expensive side, but up until recently remained the best (and only) place on the planet to do so.

But! …let’s take a hard look at what ‘we’ (US General Aviation) have allowed to happen:
…In 1979/80, the peak of GA aircraft production, almost 20,000 piston airplanes rolled off the assembly lines with a US population of about 200 million. The average price of an airplane was 2-3 times that of a new car.

…In 2013, with a population of just over 300 million people, about 500 pistons were produced/delivered each year …and the average prices are 2-3 times the (median) price of a (equally over-inflated) house!

First of all ‘General Aviation’ is doing just fine …never better in fact. That is if when you say “General Aviation” …you mean the 98 percent of GA which consist of ‘executive’ aircraft. Ninety eight (98) percent of the GA industry’s annual revenue now comes from Turbine aircraft (Bizjets and Turboprops)

According to GAMA Statistics; In 1978 there were over 14,000 piston singles produced and just over 2,600 twins, for a total dollar value of just over $1 billion in 1979 dollars …which is about $3.6 billion in today’s dollars.

Total ‘Turbine’ GA aircraft produced were 779 with a total value of $772 million in 1978 dollars …which is about $2.8 billion in today’s money.

So the ‘little guy‘ was THE major source of revenue for the GA industry as late as 1978 …not the business bigwigs . That says a lot about where we where and where we have come to. Of course back then the head of the company made maybe 15-20 times as much as the Joe on the shop floor …what is it today?

Let’s look at those numbers a little more closely; The average cost of that executive airplane (the turbine variety) was just under $1 million …about 3.5 million in today’s dollars. Today the average sticker price is $10+ million.

The average cost of a piston plane in 1978 was $58,000 (INCLUDING light to medium twins and all the high end singles) which is about $200,000 in today’s money. If we could separate the twins from the singles we would find the average piston single price would be closer to $90,000 …in today’s dollars.

Now what really bears notice is the fact that those 30 some years ago, there were far less than 1,000 big spenders who could spend the equivalent of $3.5 million in today’s money for a Bizjet or Turboprop …but there were 17,000+ little guys who could afford to buy a piston single or even a light twin …over 2,600 twins.

Who has gained and who has lost?

Well the ‘GA’ Industry is doing nicely. It has increased sales from $3 billion a year in today’s dollars to well over $20 billion.

The big spenders also don’t seem to be doing too badly. There’s now over 2,000 of them buying a new executive airplane every year (almost three times as many) …and paying more than three times as much on average for the airplane …a nearly tenfold increase in spending power by the big spenders.

Let’s just repeat that …A NEARLY TENFOLD INCREASE IN SPENDING POWER.

At the same time (light) piston airplanes, which made up more than 60 percent of ‘General Aviation’ …60 percent! …even as late as 1978, today make up just TWO lousy percent (2%) of sales by dollar. Want to buy a new airplane Joe? …can you write a check for $500,000?
What it all adds up to is that the rich have gotten much richer …while the middle class dream of airplane ownership is toast. It’s not surprising that most if not all of our Industry publications are funded almost entirely by big spending ‘Business Aviation’ …and continues to deliberately confuse things by lumping us ‘little’ aviators on life support in with the rest of ‘GA’.

Please!! …it is time for some ‘Honesty’!

And please forgive me, as I really don’t wish to sound sarcastic, but it’s just mind-boggling to a (simple minded?) guy like myself how casually, and with such cavalier so many ‘representatives’ of the Aviation Industry quote prices for production, the average ‘Light Sport’, or any other 2-4 place ‘Light Airplane’. What a perfectly reasonable price ($150-200K) to pay for a (new) ‘Light Sport’ airplane …or the $400+K for a “moderately tricked out Cessna 172″ …or the 1.2 mil!!?? for a SENECA, version 5 recently reviewed in AOPA Pilot, (another 45+ year old, basically unchanged airframe design) …I mean, what’s wrong with that …isn’t that just about right …why ain’t everybody buyin’ em?!?

How can such sums for such airplanes ever be (reasonably) justified?? And we wonder why new pilot certification is half what it was just two decades ago?? Why (aircraft) rental rates have gotten beyond the reach of most would be Sunday Flyers?

What could possibly be causing this decline in our beloved activity?!? (‘Private/Recreational Aviation’)

In most all other industries that are a factor in every other facet of our lives (save for our uniquely corrupt Health-Care ‘Industry’) …one that bears mention is the financial industry. Every product we buy has over 30 percent of its price, on average, built in for finance overhead that it took to bring that product to market. In some cases it’s much higher …interest charges, brokerage fees, etc. Yet even with all that financial overhead, a lot of consumer products still deliver more for your inflation adjusted buck than they did 15 to 20 years ago. That’s a fact. Cars bought today are a far better value for the dollar, same with the lawn tractor, the big screen TV, the washing machine, etc.

The ‘Litigation’ blamers (although the uncontrolled explosion of all the greed-laden ‘Product Liability’ lawsuits many (airplane manufacturers) have had to endure these last few decades are the ONLY thing Cessna, Piper etc. can legitimately claim to have been “victimized” by) …are a legitimate factor in the increase of Certificated Aircraft prices, to a (relatively) small degree. But they don’t ‘get it’ either, or are just being incredibly disingenuous.

And before you start ‘raving’ about the unique and ”excessive regulatory” environment that aircraft manufacturers have to endure …they were ALL operating under those basically unchanged set of rules way back in the 70-80’s as well …so what exactly did change??

….how prey-tell did they ever manage to produce, create and sustain that kind of a market back then?!??

…and profit!

The only thing today that costs five times as much as it did 30 years ago is a new airplane. Talk all you want about the cost of hangars, fuel, insurance, maintenance etc. …those things are a fact of life everywhere, but it is new and AFFORDABLE products that drive an industry. And unfortunately, the personal ‘Recreational Airplane’ industry is finished because the average price of a new 4 place piston airplane is half a million+ dollars …which less than 1.5% of the population could ever afford/justify.

That is strictly an ‘Industry’ issue. If the automotive industry wanted to build an airplane for $50,000, do you think they couldn’t? …sure they could. And they would sell who knows how many thousands at that price.

But does anyone really not believe that Cessna could indeed manufacture, and sell a new 172 for $125 -150K (or a 152 for $60-$70K) …and realize a ‘reasonable’ profit per unit??

Cessna, like Piper, Beechcraft and others decided, long ago, that Corporate (Turbine) aircraft is “where the monies at” (and an extremely lucrative amount of money at that) And the LSA (‘Industry’) which was supposed to be GA’s “savior” has, it seems, quickly succumbed to the disease …behold the Cub Crafters Carbon Cub. An even simpler TWO place, basic, fixed gear, fixed prop, low HP ‘LIGHT SPORT’ airplane with a basic avionics package for the bargain price of only 200K!

This is what has been/is still primarily responsible for the demise of ‘General Aviation’ …as those of us who numbered among what was generally perceived to make up its largest segment during the 60’s, 70’s and into the early 90’s have been so fortunate to have been a part of.

The ‘Experimental’ ‘Industry’ has been equally infected …as for the all of those available ‘Kits’ out there today. Realistically, even a modest, two place, fixed gear/prop with a basic IFR panel (that by reg, one actually can’t utilize for it’s designed purposes) 140+ kt airplane most often sports (pun intended) a finished price of close to 100K …many others almost twice that! But don’t forget …ya still have to build (and maintain) it yourself!

The aircraft industry now looks at things differently; The ‘GA’ (BUSINESS) aircraft industry makes over $20 billion a year in revenue by selling 2,000 executive aircraft at an average price of $10 million each. In order to make $20 billion in sales selling (little)airplanes, even at $100,000 apiece, they would have to sell 200,000 small airplanes a year. That’s never going to happen …there simply aren’t 200,000 people who are interested in buying their own airplane each and every year …or have the extra $100,000 lying around to do so. So the numbers are woefully against the ‘rest of us’ …that is the reality.

We must all come to grips with the fact that ‘General Aviation’ is now solely ‘Business Aviation’ …NOT the little guys flying around for personal or ‘recreational’ purposes in Cessnas & Cherokees. That is not what ‘General Aviation’ is anymore. The ‘Aircraft Industry’ sure knows this …and that’s why they made the (rational?) choice that it is not worth it.

And the “BasicMed rule will simplify our regulations and keep general aviation flying ‘affordable’,” …and help save ‘General Aviation’??

Repeat: General Aviation is now ‘Business Aviation’ …Long Live The King!

And while I’m not so naive (or young and foolish) or unappreciative to not understand that it was (is?) the engine of ‘Capitalism’ that made ‘GENERAL’ Aviation attainable to most of the masses in the first place, and ‘Business Aviation’ was indeed a (if not “The”) very large and essential part of ‘General Aviation’ which fueled that engine …unfortunately, it has become (painfully) obvious to me (and I suspect more than just a “vocal minority” of our “community”) that the US Aviation ‘Industry’, along with its publications and all of our ‘alphabet ‘Associations’, and dare I postulate, even the EAA, all who’ve been a welcomed part of my life during my 40 year love affair with Aviation, have morphed into what indeed it seems ‘Corporate America’ has equally mutated into …’Business’ entities, again whose SOLE purpose appears to be the pursuit of profit …SOLELY for its own sake, and the unlimited enrichment of their upper echelons.

…NO …they insult our intelligence (as well as their own) with ‘SPIN’ worthy of the best of what we’ve all been forced to endure from the Corporate-Congressional-Industrial-Complex over the last few decades …by trying to con us into believing how “great this will be” …what a difference it will make, when the 99% (no pun intended) of us who exist in the ‘real world’ know all too well to the contrary! It’s now all too evident that ‘They’ in essence have become and are no different than ‘Them’ …but how devastatingly unfortunate for all of us that they (ALPA & EAA) are, for the purposes of representation, the only game(s) in town.

We (as in ALL of us) have just witnessed the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind in this country (no …this IS NOT “Class Warfare” talk here …just an honest, objective assessment of the data & facts) …and our beloved and nearly extinct ‘General Aviation’ has just simply been one of its many and most obvious casualties.

Mike I can’t agree enough with you so far what I have read. Looks like they just took from the FAA exam and added a bunch more , I have had a couple issues early 1/12/17 , Made a full recovery with medical procedure and Meds, So will thay except my doctors determination on my health. and can my Doc give me a special issuance if he’s willing to. Or do we have to go back and play the FAA game again

My personal physician has for many years been writing a letter for me to give to my designated AME regarding my fitness to fly based on the effectiveness of my high blood pressure medication. My personal physician has already been accepting a liability for this documentation stating that my blood pressure is under control, and meets FAA standards. Also my physician does CDL exams and takes on the liability of commercial drivers of long haul 18+ wheeler vehicles on congested highways.

@ Cheryl-
I am speaking about aggregate numbers of doctors willing vs unwilling, not a particular case. Any particular case depends on the character of relationship, how long it’s existed, the confidence the doctor has in the patient, etc.
Also, is there any specific liability waiver to doctors who give CDL medicals ?

Legally, you are on the same hook as with the 3rd class medical. Like the 3rd class, the Basic Med questionnaire puts you on record for every medical condition you have, or ever had. And thus the same issues recurr on each subsequent physical, however outdated or irrelevant they may be. Also, it is still an open question of how many personal doctors are willing to sign pilots off to fly. For doctors, the liability issue looms large, and unless there is specific legislation relieving them of that risk, there may be few doctors that will cooperate. Perhaps AOPA could lobby to get such legislation. Beyond that, the average doctor knows little about aviation and therefore might feel reluctant on moral grounds to certify someone to fly.
Things would have been so much better if the LSA category had simply been expanded to include basic GA aircraft, like C172, Cherokees, or similar aircraft with a GW up to, say, 2500 lbs.

Heck yeah, agree 1000000 percent! This was supposed to do just that, give an increase to the total flyable weight allowing real FAA certified aircraft to be used instead of the lightweight, ATSM flotsam that is currently available…..the alphabet groups failed miserably here and need to be taken to task for it, not praised. Pathetic!!

Most of us have been scammed by Congress, the FAA and the alphabet groups who supported this garbage labeled Basic Med. It really helps very few and is nowhere near what we deserve from the FAA where Third Class Medical Reform is concerned. Shame on them all!